Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 101466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
I was doing it.
I got everything I needed and climbed the ladder, grateful the sun had been out all day. The trim was dry, and as I hoped, the straight part went quickly. I had to go up and down the ladder several times, but I did so carefully, only cursing on occasion. I moved it one last time, looking up to the gable. It looked higher than I remembered, and I wondered if I should wait.
Jesse would tell me I should wait. In fact, he would insist on it.
So, I climbed back up and started edging to the gable, taking deep breaths and trying not to look down. But I did, and I froze, then lowered my head, staring at the shingles. With a sigh, I realized that I couldn’t do this and I needed to climb down. I shut my eyes and willed my body to unlock. All I had to do was climb down the ladder.
Once I got there.
I heard someone walking by, but I didn’t look down again. I didn’t dare. I was deeply regretting my decision and wondering why I never listened to the voice in my head that sounded like Jesse. It was usually right. Then behind me, I felt the ladder shift, and I lifted my head, my eyes growing wider as a sandy-brown head of hair appeared, followed by Jesse’s scowling face.
I stared at him, lights in my hand, partially frozen from fear and not denying the rush of relief at seeing him.
Then he spoke.
“What. Are. You. Doing?” he growled.
Shit. It wasn’t Jesse. Thorne was here—and he was pissed.
JESSE
I was headed to the break room, desperate for a cup of coffee. We had been out on a call, and when we got back to the fire station, I’d cleaned my gear and showered. We’d missed lunch, so I was hoping there would be some sandwiches waiting.
Martha waved me over, and I walked closer.
“Just a sec,” she said into the phone and handed it to me. “I think this is yours.”
Confused, I took it. “Hello.”
“Officer Thorne, it’s Lila.”
“It’s not officer,” I corrected her for the hundredth time. “Just Jesse is fine, Lila.”
“You have a burglar.”
“What?”
“Someone is trying to get into your house.”
“Are you sure it’s not my wife?” I asked her. Lila got confused sometimes, even though she knew Casey, who often brought her soup and baked goods.
“I don’t think your wife needs a ladder to get into the house.”
“A ladder?”
“Yeah. Someone’s been up and down the ladder for hours, pulling rope with them.”
“Pulling rope,” I repeated slowly.
What the hell?
“It lights up,” she said.
My breath caught. Rope that lights up. As in Christmas lights.
As in the Christmas lights Casey got so excited over and ordered.
Burglar, my ass.
“Thanks, Lila. I’ll take care of it.”
Chief Fleming came out of his office. “Casey at it again?”
I rolled my eyes. She was a legend here. Breaking in the first day, the tree incident, the time she decided she could hang another set of wind chimes outside the window by stretching really far and almost falling out of the window. I’d barely caught her, grabbing her pant leg as she began to go over the ledge. I would never forget the sight of my wife disappearing through the open window.
I thought she’d learned her lesson.
“I have to go help.”
Chief grinned. “Let’s take the truck. I can get you there faster, and since it’s electric, she won’t hear you coming. I want to see the Jesse and Casey show.”
I tried not to laugh. What a show it was.
“Done.”
We pulled up to the house, Casey not even looking since the truck was almost silent. She was climbing onto the porch roof, a string of lights clutched in her hand. The porch was fully lit up, telling me she’d been busy.
Chief chuckled. “Determined.”
“Fucking stubborn.”
He clapped my shoulder. “That’s what you get for falling for an independent woman.”
We got out of the truck and walked across the street. Chief waited as I climbed the ladder.
I reached the top, meeting Casey’s guilt-filled expression and wide eyes. She didn’t reply to my question.
“Casey?” I demanded. “Tell me you’re not up on the roof hanging lights when there is a threat of freezing rain, you’re alone, and you are strictly forbidden to climb ladders.”
“I’m not up on the roof hanging lights or any of the other things you said.”
Below me, Chief chuckled. I glared at her.
“I, ah, I didn’t hear you,” she said. “I’m almost done.”
“No. You are done. Give me the lights.”
“I only have the gable…” She trailed off. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“The kind of surprise I like from you is a pot roast with extra gravy.” I leaned closer, lowering my voice. “Or finding you naked in our bed. Not on a roof.”
“At least I’m not naked,” she quipped.
Once again, Chief started to chuckle.